Study: Apartment sizes shrinking in Silver Spring, growing slightly in DC

Rent keeps going up, but the size of apartments keep getting smaller in one part of the D.C. region.

Over the last 10 years, the average size of new apartments being built in Silver Spring, Maryland, has decreased by about 114 square feet, or about 15 percent. A new Rent Cafe study finds the average size of newer apartments is now 780 square feet.

That’s the largest size decrease found nationwide in the study. The average size of new apartments built in our region of the U.S. is 911 square feet.



Rent Cafe says apartments are also getting smaller in Alexandria and Richmond. Over the last decade, the average apartment shrunk 5% in Richmond and 4% in Alexandria.

But there is some good news when it comes to newer apartments in the District. They have increased in size about 9 square feet. The average size of a newer apartment in D.C. is 747 square feet.

The 1% increase is not much, but still bucks the national trend. The study found that the average size of new apartments in 2022 was 887 square feet, a 54-square-foot drop since 10 years ago.

Kyle Cooper

Weekend and fill-in anchor Kyle Cooper has been with WTOP since 1992. Over those 25 years, Kyle has worked as a street reporter, editor and anchor. Prior to WTOP, Kyle worked at several radio stations in Indiana and at the Indianapolis Star Newspaper.

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